article

Classificatory kinship and classificatory status: the Cottica Djuka of Suriname

Man4Published In 1969 • Pages: 236-249

By: Köbben, A. J. F..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, Köbben discusses how classificatory kin and status are used in formal gatherings, called palavers, that deal with problems related to sickness, marriage, religion, or law. Palavers involve the two interested parties and a third neutral party. Classificatory kin ('mother's brother') are often called upon to represent a party in the gathering. The neutral party is usually a person of status such as a village headman or priest. Often the local chief is away on a visit and not available. In these cases other notables who may be visiting or passing through a village are called upon to oversee the palaver. The author argues that this flexibililty in choice of representatives and adjudicators is an adaptation to the geographical mobility of the Ndyuka. Without such flexiblity, village councils could never be carried out.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Status, role, and prestige
Kin relationships
Community heads
Informal in-group justice
Chief executive
Agency
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Ndyuka
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
1999
RegionThe area the document pertains to
South America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Amazon and Orinoco
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard ; 1997
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1961-1962
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1961-1962
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Suriname
NotesAdditional notes
A. J. F. Köbben
Includes bibliographical references (p. 249)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
sf80000548
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Djuka people